City Year Kansas City welcomes new board members

City Year Kansas City announces the departure of founding Board Member, Brent Stewart, President & CEO of United Way, and welcomes new members Lily Maxwell, Regional Director, Midwest at Global Prairie, Karen Daniel, retired Chief Financial Officer at Black & Veatch and Katrina Scott, Chief Investment Officer at Mariner Wealth Advisors. Their combined experience will be valuable assets in helping City Year Kansas City deepen and expand its impact on students and AmeriCorps members.

Brent has been an active champion for City Year since the organization launched in Kansas City in 2015. His service as a founding Board Member helped strengthen the connections between City Year and the corporate, civic and nonprofit communities. “I’m so grateful that Brent joined as a founding Board Member for City Year Kansas City. His perspective and advice were so valuable during critical decision-making points over the last three years”, stated Audra Clark, Executive Director at City Year Kansas City. “His impact on City Year will be felt beyond his service on the Board.”

As a Regional Director, Lily is focused on growth for Global Prairie’s team, clients and community impact — across nine offices and nearly 100 employees worldwide. Since joining the Board in January, Lily has already showcased her passion for making an impact by growing City Year’s network and helping advance its positive message throughout the community. Lily will be helping City Year develop and implement the first Kansas City-specific marketing plan. In addition to City Year, Lily is a current member of the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City’s Kansas City Tomorrow program and an alumnus of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Centurions Program. Previously, Lily served on the board of the Women’s Employment Network where she helped to usher in a new financial literacy program. She is a founding member, and former Board of Trustee for the Hope Funds for Cancer Research based in New York, NY and Newport, RI.

Karen Daniel is the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Black & Veatch, having recently retired in July 2018 after more than 25 years with the company. Karen serves on several corporate boards, including Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Commerce Bancshares Inc., Snap-On Tools Inc. and of Northwest Foundation Inc. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Northwest Missouri State University and a Master of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

In 2016, Karen became the first African-American chairwoman of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. In her yearlong stint, she pressed initiatives to increase opportunities for people throughout the community, particularly through education. Karen is a graduate of Kansas City Public Schools and is passionate about educational opportunities for all students.

Katrina is part of Mariner Wealth Advisors’ executive leadership team overseeing all aspects of investments across the firm. Her responsibilities include leading the investment committee, private investment committee and is also a risk committee member. Katrina has 17 years of experience in the investment industry and is a talented and passionate fundraiser. As part of the City Year gala Host Committee, she helped raise nearly $50,000 to support student success for the upcoming year. Prior to joining Mariner Wealth Advisors, she was an analyst for a hedge fund in Manhattan, Kansas. Katrina has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance from Kansas State University. She achieved the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation in 2009.

City Year is a nonprofit organization that mobilizes AmeriCorps members — all between the ages of 17-25 — to serve as full-time tutors, mentors and role models in Kansas City’s highest-need urban schools. City Year Kansas City AmeriCorps members serve full-time in seven schools reaching over 4,000 students each day. City Year AmeriCorps members partner with teachers and principals to provide academic and social-emotional support to students, helping them stay on track to graduate from high school prepared for college and career success.

City Year Kansas City’s impact is made possible by a public-private partnership between corporations, philanthropic individuals, Kansas City Public Schools and the Corporation for National and Community Service.